The Ottawa free trader., 1887-03-26
TARIPP RETOUM. No. 0.

practical business men generally are pro
tectionists.
II education is worth anything toa man
II gives him the habit of looking at al
sides of question, and trains him to RISE
above narrow, personal and local interests
II certainly should tTeLg'hen rather th"n
weaken a cause TO be championed by men
whose habits of life train them to eXten
slye reading and to the study OF all ques
,ions from "A broad rather than a narro"
view Now, as Blstial has well said, In the
tarifr question, the majority are governed
by what they see, and not by what Is un
seen. The man who thinks that high tarlii
Is the cause of cheap sugar today reasons
by the seen, and not by the unseen. lie
generally forgets that Louisiana actually
produces less sugar now than in 1854, when
our population was much less,
Six months experience Of high prohts,
under a protected monopoly. may make
Young man forego his convictions because
his self interest seem to lead him contrary
TO them; but the men who really believe
In high tariff are generally those engaged
Ia highly protected business
No one denies that a tariff for revenue
only Is the easiest way to raise government
expenses. Whether ii be the wisest Is an
other question. If direct taxation were
the legal method, appropriation and pen
sion bills would be mere sharply overhaul
ed by the people than they now are. But
If revenue Is 10 be derived from duties II
Is natural and Just that duties should bs
laid upon articles of luxury rather than OF
necessity, and that they should hamper the
business of the country as little as possible
They should be so adjusted as 10 exclude
nothing which the country needs, and to
admit free what helps the country most
They should neither create nor foster mo.
nopolies.
Now compare the tariff on sugar with
that on tea and coffee. The cry OF "iree
breakfast table" was used to take off the
duty on tea and coffee, which are not pro.
duced at all In this country. But the far
heavier tax was retained on sugar, of which
the average American uses 81 pounds a
year. Salt remains heavily taxed. Rice
pays l23 per cent duty. These are incon.
slstencies and absurdities but 1t seems i'm.
possible to get House to take up the sub.
ject of reform and give the subject OF a
sensible tariff fair consideration. Each
protected Interest, either alone or in com
blnation, tries TO keep Its own monopoly
secure, anG finally the result is that moth
ing is done.
Protection, says Mr.. James, means "ulti
mate cheapness, purchased at the expense
Of temporary initiation of prices" | ain
glad of this concession. should like tC
know. however how many years lie be
tween us and that "ultim ate cheapness."
find that In many instances my money has
less purchasing power than 1t had before
the war. | have to pay, for many articles
twice OF three times what | did then.
can not get board, or rent or fuel, or meat
or milk, or books at any such prices as
could then; and my taxes are higher OF
the dollar than they were then.
Who ever heard of protected industry
letting go of protection because IL was
able to live without 1t? How long has the
cotton manufacture been protected If |,
can not live after sixty years and more OF
protection, ought not something else to be
tried In It's place? 1t can live, and 80 could
the wooden industry and the copper mining
and the pot,eries, and many other indus
tries that are whining around the public
treasury like lazy grownup. spoiled chill
dren, living upon a hard working father
and mother. II Is blessed thing for those
children and for the rest of the family
when the parents show them cut of doors
and send them TO earn their own living.
Tie quinine question has not been fairly
answered yet The only answer sought
was this: was duty of dollar an ounce
on an article which paid the manufacturer
an immense profit, and which paid the
government practically nothing, 1880 in
one year, when the country used nearly
two million ounces) just or unjust?
To one who knows how quinine Is made
the statement that "the protecting hand of
government shielded the industry until the
intricate methods of It's production were
mastered, protected 1t until 1t was self f.sus-
tanning, when domestic competition gave
us cheaper qunine than the world could
elsewhere produce" is as good as anything
in comic almanac. The "quinine ring
WAS compact, wellorganized, wealthy
They bought out competition, paid foreign
competitors to keep out of the market, and
never clamered so loudly over the certainty
of the ruin of their business and the loss to
America as In the very year when the duty
was repealed. "lf," said protectionist
journal, 1.-The duty on quinine is repealed,
We shall be at the mercy of foreign capi.
talists, and quinine Will rise in price" The
result Is well known. Quinine sells for